


Our Moonlight Symphony

by Ladieboog



Category: Peanuts
Genre: 1960s, 1969, Aged-Up Character(s), Alcohol, Angry Kissing, Angry Sex, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Romance, Arguing, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Best Friends, Bickering, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexuality, Blow Jobs, Car Sex, Character Development, Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, Cigarettes, Cunnilingus, Declarations Of Love, Demiromantic, Demiromantic Character, Denial of Feelings, Drug Experimentation, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Feels, Fingerfucking, Fingering, Fluff and Angst, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Gentle Kissing, Gentle Sex, Girls Kissing, Gray-Asexuality, Heavy Angst, Hippies, Historical, Historical Accuracy, Holidays, Hot Sex, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Jealousy, Kissing, LSD, Lesbian Sex, Lovers, Making Out, Male Demiromantic Character, Male-Female Friendship, Marijuana, Minor Character Death, Music, Mutual Pining, Narcissism, Neck Kissing, Neediness, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Off screen dub con for a brief secondary relationship, Oral Sex, Passion, Passionate Sex, Period Typical Attitudes, Period Typical Bigotry, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Racism, Piano, Piano Sex, Pining, Recreational Drug Use, Resolved Sexual Tension, Romantic Fluff, Rough Kissing, Rough Sex, Self Confidence Issues, Serious, Sex, Sexual Content, Sexual Experimentation, Sexual Tension, Sloppy Makeouts, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Dancing, Sorry I’m a tag hoarder but all tags are relevant I swear, Stockings, Straight Sex, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Temptation, Tenderness, The draft, Tragedy, Tsunderes, Vietnam War, Vietnam draft, War, intimate sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:28:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24853858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladieboog/pseuds/Ladieboog
Summary: FANDOM BLIND FRIENDLYIn which a boy is obsessed with his piano and a girl is obsessed with him. Slow burn life-long frenemies to lovers between two flawed but lovable protagonists set in 1969.Schroeder has known Lucy since they were babies and has gotten used to her constant presence and incessant attempts to gain his affection. But now, as the 60's and their adolescence are coming to an end and adulthood and a seemingly inevitable war are fast approaching, the two begin to grow closer than ever before.Originally posted by me on Wattpad (main platform) Wattpad username:  ladieboogStory cover link: https://imgur.com/gallery/bVbS4xU
Relationships: Schroeder/Lucy van Pelt
Comments: 37
Kudos: 45





	1. Perfection

( _ **A//N reminder that this is technically a Schroeder/Lucy - Peanuts fanfic but you don't have to know anything about Peanuts to read it. Comics directly referenced in dialogue or plot will be provided but those subtly referenced and references to several strips at once will not. They're not required to read to understand the story but you may appreciate the references a bit more if u do.**_ )

Schroeder gazed fondly with a content smile playing at his lips at the face in front of him. It was absolute _perfection_ \- simply gorgeous, winsome, and a model of sophistication. It left him mesmerized and inspired to create a grand symphony in honor of its magnificence. The face at which he was gazing upon was none other than that of Ludwig van Beethoven. Well, the face of a miniature statue of Beethoven that is. It was important to him that he had it close by at all times to keep him inspired and disciplined, almost as if he believed it were the great pianist himself staring down motivating his student to practice more and be better. This great fascination for his idol led him to keep a statue placed on his piano at home, the piano he practiced on at school, on his nightstand beside his bed, and he made sure to keep a closet full of extras just in case a certain neighbor of his suddenly decided that she was feeling extra jealous of his attention always going to Beethoven. That neighbor being Lucy van Pelt.

As children, his childhood friend Lucy had a habit of defacing, stealing, or even smashing the small figureheads to pieces even after she learned he had stocked a closet full of spares just in case she did something. But as they grew older and Schroeder's traditionalist British mother who highly valued manners started expecting Lucy to act like a little lady when she came over, she knew better than to destroy his precious sculptures. She had occasionally destroyed the toy piano he constantly played when they were younger as well, once even throwing it down a sewer, however that became out of the question once he finally upgraded to a rather expensive grand piano. He had still carried his toy piano with him throughout all of his years in school to play between classes and hold onto like a security blanket, but he was always careful to keep it out of anyone's reach.

[February 1955 Peanuts strip reference](https://imgur.com/gallery/OGb3KfC)  
  


It had now been just a bit over a year since Schroeder graduated from high school but he continued to spend his days there, mostly in the auditorium. He hadn't wanted to enroll into college directly after graduation and instead felt it best to spend two years perfecting his skills with a mentor before applying to a top prestigious music school like Juilliard or the Curtis Institute where he'd study piano performance and composing. While his parents didn't mind that he had far reaching aspirations of becoming a great pianist and composer, they had grown tired of hearing the piano being played at home every waking hour of the day. In exchange for allowing their son to continue living at home after graduation, he was to do the majority of his practice elsewhere, leading him to ask the school's music teacher if he could use the piano in the auditorium for practice during his mentorship.

The first year of the program went exactly as Schroeder had planned. He met with his mentor twice a week, Monday and Thursday evening, and practiced on his own everyday, even going as far as acquiring a key to the school from the janitor to sneak in on weekends to practice. But he had done more than simply practice this past year of his program. If practice was all he could get out of these two gap years then he wouldn't have taken them as he'd practically mastered piano as much as he possibly could on his own by the age of 8. This mentorship had provided him with the opportunity to really learn. The content was challenging and fresh and allowed him to appreciate the art even more, but mostly Schroeder credited his improvement and personal achievements to having such a rigorous teacher who never took it easy on him, always expecting the absolute best. He was grateful for this as he desired to be nothing short of Beethoven himself— nothing short of _perfection_.

While during the summer Schroeder's meetings with his mentor continued, his practice dropped off significantly as the school's piano was locked away in storage for break, out of reach even with the janitor's key. It had driven the poor boy mad to have to keep the practicing at home to no more than an hour or two a day or go to the park with his toy. In extremely dire times, Schroeder resorted to asking Lucy if he could practice at her house knowing she'd never refuse the chance to try and get his attention while he played. While all her attempts to catch his eye could be somewhat distracting and highly irritating, he found it far less frustrating than trying to focus next to a playground full of screaming children.

But finally, today was the first day of the new school year and the beginning of the second and final year of his mentorship. Even though he knew he had no classes to attend and was only going to be there to borrow a piano, he still never thought he'd be so grateful to return to school.

"Schroeder, your father and I are off to work now. There's still some coffee in the pot if you want any and I left the sugar out on the counter for you." His mother calls out to him from outside his room effectively pulling the boy from his admiring gaze at the Beethoven figurehead on his nightstand.

"Alright, thanks mum!" He hollers back while pushing himself off his mattress with great enthusiasm that came from his excitement to head to school. After hurriedly throwing on a t-shirt and pair of jeans, he quickly brushed his teeth and casually ran his fingers through the tangled locks of his hair that had formed in his sleep. He was never looking to impress those around him but it felt necessary to at least remain somewhat presentable as he was an aspiring professional pianist and composer and they always appeared as immaculate models of elegance.

Just as he reached the bottom of the steps while heading downstairs, there was a knock at the front door and he knew instantly it'd be her. Everyday since he'd gotten his license when he was 16, she'd forced him to drive her to school so that they could practice being in the car together for when they were married. The girl's reasoning irked him but he was willing to drive her as a friend all the same even if only because he couldn't think of any good excuse for why he couldn't.

"Morning, Lucy." He greeted the girl, forcing a small smile. "You know, you're..." He paused looking down at the leather watch on his wrist. "You're three minutes later than usual." Schroeder teased knowing one of her many major pet peeves was not being 100% punctual.

"Linus got his hand stuck in the cookie jar and I had to butter it up to get him out." She explained justifying her tardiness. This made the boy chuckle, both at the picture she'd illustrated to him and at the immense guilt and displeasure in her eyes over a mere three minutes difference. Lucy had always been a major perfectionist. From being impeccably on time to every occasion to color coding, numbering, and alphabetically sorting everything she owned, Lucy had methodically organized her life to the greatest extent possible. But it wasn't only her life that was so meticulously neat and spruce as she had also always kept her appearance remarkably trim. The gentle manner in which her jet black old Hollywood waves rested on her shoulders created a graceful and luscious bounce when she walked. The cloth making up the dresses she donned hugged the curves of her upper body just the right amount while the dresses' skirts flowed elegantly just above her knees and formed a mesmerizing circle when she twirled. Accompanying whichever dress she'd decided to wear that day was always a pair of black stockings and well-shined black flats adding to the sharp and clean lines of her outfit. To finish it all off, Lucy always wore winged eyeliner that was as dark as coal, as sharp as a blade, and as even on both sides as the bold red lipstick that completed her neat, sophisticated, classy, and modest yet sexy look. She had made herself into a pin-up, a raven haired Marilyn Monroe, the epitome of what every woman was told they should look like. The exceptional immaculacy that Lucy displayed to the world had convinced most those around her and everyone at school that everything about her, from her bold and forthright personality to her striking beauty, was simply _perfect_. And she had convinced herself of it as well.

While the majority of Lucy's childhood friends had accepted the overly confident and bold woman that she'd grown into, Schroeder didn't buy the facade for one second. She still showed a different side of herself to him just as she had her entire life. When it was just the two of them in a room together, she was much more philosophical and contemplative but also quiet and not just because he was usually playing his piano and she didn't want to interrupt, interrupting his practice was never something she worried about. She was simply more soft-spoken. She still annoyed him plenty and there were still times when she was loud and arrogant, but they were always accompanied with a bit of whimsical childishness that she didn't allow herself to reveal to anyone else. Schroeder knew that the person she showed to everyone else wasn't who she really was, or at least it wasn't all of who she was. He believed she'd put on her mask of _perfection_ to cover her insecurities. Sometimes Schroeder wondered if knowing this side of her was the reason he'd allowed her to remain in his company for so many years despite her frequent whining and utter rudeness.

After letting Lucy in, the two marched to the kitchen quickly falling back into their morning routine that they'd developed ever since Schroeder had began driving her to school.

"Tea?" He questioned the girl as she sat down at the breakfast nook while pouring himself a mug of coffee. He already knew she'd say yes as she always wanted tea in the morning, but he still felt the need to make sure every time.

"Yes, with-" She begins before getting cut off.

"I know how you like it." He interrupts. Just as he knew she'd say yes but always asked to make sure, she also always reminded him of how she took her tea just in case he'd forgotten. "Here. One Earl Grey with precisely one spoonful of honey." He announced resting the steaming "#1 Beethoven Fan" mug in front of her.

"Thank you." Lucy replied politely as she felt a slight blush creep across her cheeks both due to the heat rising from her drink to her face and the fact that, as usual, Schroeder had remembered how she wanted her morning tea. Most people didn't even know her well enough to know she preferred tea over coffee.

"What's your word of the day?" Schroeder asks, taking a seat beside her.

"Flotsam. An English word I discovered three years ago in the _Merriam-Webster Dictionary_." She explains plainly while gently blowing on her drink to cool it down.

"Define it." Schroeder orders before taking a sip of his coffee.

" **Flotsam** :

 **1** : floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo; broadly : floating debris

 **2 a** : a floating population (as of emigrants or castaways)

 **b** : miscellaneous or unimportant material

 **c** : debris, remains." Lucy recites sounding as if she was reading directly from a dictionary in front of her and in a way, she was.

"Use it in a sentence." He challenges with a smirk.

"He would walk along the beach collecting the flotsam and jetsam that had been washed ashore." Her voice was confident and unwavering, without a hint of hesitation.

"One word a day is too easy for you." Schroeder shook his head still feeling a bit of disbelief over her abilities even after all these years. Lucy had been obsessed with words and language since the moment she could first hold a book. It was an obsession that went beyond a simple love of reading and writing. Lucy was capable of retaining virtually all information she read to such an extent that she could describe every event in a thousand plus page book she'd read when she was only nine. By the time she entered high school, she was beginning to use her incredible talents to absorb all the information about humanity, the world, and the universe that she possibly could. Lucy read dictionaries and thesauruses, memorizing almost every word after a single read through, as well as translation dictionaries and language learning guides all to be able to read the scriptures of a variety of world religions, ancient and modern spanning from Christianity to Judaism to Islam to Wicca to ancient Egyptian mythology to Confucianism to Sikhism and more. Lucy read the Iliad and the Odyssey in Ancient Greek and in their Latin translations. She read all the works of Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe and the essays of Locke, Hobbes, and the transcendentalists. She read everything she could by Greek and Roman philosophers and as many autobiographies and memoirs from famous historical figures as she could find. She also read quite a handful of scientific studies, historic and modern, even though she'd always struggled to understand any aspect of science. She simply wanted to be able to file it away in her library of a brain.

"When we're married you'll use the money you make from playing piano to buy me more books, won't you Schroeder?" Lucy asks casually while pulling out the fifth edition of _The Concise Oxford English_ Dictionary from her school bag. Lucy read through it a few times in the past, but had decided to reread a few hundred entries of it for fun. 

"Good grief." Schroeder groaned, rolling his eyes. It wasn't even 9a yet and she was already starting on her bullshit.

"We only have about 10mins before we have to get going, you sure you have time to get sucked into your book right now?" While his question was serious, his tone was jesting and playful but the moment he finished his sentence and Lucy's eyes darted up from her page, raising a questioning eyebrow at him, he realized the question was silly. "Oh, yeah." He responded to her silent reply. Of course the punctual perfectionist in front of him knew down to the second how much time they had left.

The majority of the car ride to school was spent bickering over what should be played on the radio. Lucy wanted The Beatles while Schroeder was of course in favor of hearing classical. In the end, classical won the battle when Schroeder threatened to kick her to the curb if she tried changing the channel while Beethoven was playing.

"This isn't real music! You wanna hear some real music? Put on some Beatles, Elvis, or Rolling Stones! That's the sort of music that people like, not that ol' Beethoven stuff." She yells passionately leaving Schroeder to wonder why she even still tried to get him to listen to other genres of music even after all these years of knowing him. Lucy may be the stubbornest person on the face of the Earth, but no one, not even her, could mess with Schroeder and his Beethoven.

"I can't stand it!" He snaps back harshly while turning up the music to drown out any further protests by the girl.

  
[May 1962 Peanuts strip reference](https://imgur.com/gallery/iFGmi0Q)

"Well you don't have to get so worked up about it." Lucy retorts but is only met with a flurry of hushes as Schroeder was trying to hear the music. Rolling her eyes, she finally forfeits the argument and decides to try and ignore the crazed fanboy by staring out the window to distract from the music ringing in her ear. Immediately, her eyes are drawn to the blue sky and the various plants and trees they pass by during their drive. Lucy was fascinated by nature but never quite understood the science behind it. Magic, conspiracy theories, and ideas that seemed straight out of a fantasy novel seemed much more logical to her.

"It's going to rain today, Schroeder." Lucy announces keeping her eyes trained upwards towards the sky.

"Did you hear it on the radio this morning? I wish you'd told me before we left, I would've grabbed an umbrella." He replies, coming to a stop at a red light before turning his gaze to look at the girl next to him.

"Well I couldn't have told you before I examined the clouds, of course. There's a bunny shaped cloud and bunny clouds that are out before 9a mean afternoon rain." She explained matter of factly.

"Lucy, what are you on about?" Schroeder groans at the psychotic woman he'd regretfully chosen to deal with this morning. She was already pushing his buttons and they still hadn't even made it to school but his irritation was eased slightly as he became a bit distracted by the sparkles in her eyes as she marveled at the clouds.

"I read it in a book." She claimed defensively.

"Sure." Schroeder answered, his voice laced with heavy sarcasm. He knew what it meant when she said that.

"That I wrote." She admitted unabashedly. Lucy had no doubt in her brain she had the authority opinion on everything. When she didn't understand anything science related, instead of trying to, she simply decided whatever it was could be explained by some mystical conspiracy theory like phenomenon and that anyone who believed in that "science mumbo jumbo" was the crazy one.

"Of course." Schroeder shook his head at her before turning to look back at the road again.

"When I was five." She ended, this time receiving a small chuckle from him.

"I'll meet you in the parking lot after school. Don't be late, I have to drop you off at home quick so I can get to practice on time." Schroeder tells Lucy as they pull into a parking space at school.

"Oh I won't, I'll come hangout with you in the auditorium again just like last year and we can walk to the car together." Lucy chimes excitedly.

"Fine but you're not allowed to distract me again. I really need to focus!" He warns her sternly, shooting a minor glare into her eyes.

"Are you calling me distracting, baby?" She teases flirtatiously leaning close towards his face with a smile. _Why does she have to be like this?_ He thought. He couldn't deny, she was gorgeous and on occasion, including now as he stole a glance down at the _perfect_ sultry lips in front of him, he felt tempted to kiss the girl who constantly professed her undying love for him. Sometimes he'd humor her and flirt a little in response to her attempts to woo him, but overall, he never wanted to be with her or with anyone for that matter. He had casually fooled around with some girls in school before but Schroeder never wanted to date anyone in his life. He planned on remaining a bachelor forever like his idol Beethoven.

"Lucy, I've had enough of you this morning. Go to class." He ordered, his tone and expression clearly displaying his exasperation both over Lucy's childish antics and his slight desire to pin her beneath him in spite of them.

"Ok, my sweet." She replies merrily before stealing a kiss on his cheek and hopping out of the car, leaving before he could chide her.

"You blockhead!" He shouts out the window from inside his car. He catches his reflection in the overhead mirror and sees the bright red lipstick stain she'd left on his cheek. "Bloody hell." He mumbles grabbing a tissue from his glove compartment to wipe it off. Schroeder usually lost the partial British accent he'd inherited from his mom while out in public, but couldn't help letting his curse words slip no matter where he was.

Walking through the halls towards the auditorium, Schroeder somehow felt less out of place in the school than he did when he was last a student over a year ago. Back then, all he did was mope around as he was forced to go to classes where he couldn't play his piano and forced to learn about historical figures that weren't Beethoven. Most other students, except for his friends like Charlie Brown, Patty, Violet, and Lucy tended to think he was a strange piano playing loner. There were a few who bullied him occasionally, but usually people just ignored him, further reinforcing the loner boy image. Schroeder didn't mind how people saw him but it felt nice to walk down the halls of school without any unnecessary peer pressure or stress regarding homework.

"Hey Schroeder!" Linus greets the boy as he passes him in the hall.

"Hey, have fun being a sophomore." He says roughing up his friend's hair. After having spent so much time with Lucy over the years, Schroeder had grown to treat Linus like his own little brother as well and was excited to see him grow up and navigate his way through high school. "Oh and I'm always available to give you a ride to school if you miss the bus. You being there might help keep your sister off me for a few minutes." Schroeder reminds him jokingly however the more he thought about it, the more he realized how many of his problems that had the potential to solve.

"You'll give into her buffoonery someday!" Linus shouts back walking away heading to class before Schroeder could have the chance to argue.

"No I won't... I won't let it happen." Schroeder whispered to himself.

+++

"HA! What did I tell you?!" Lucy exclaims waving a belittling finger at the boy as they march out of the school and into the pouring rain. Instantly their hair and clothes become soaked as they jog to the car trying their best to avoid splashing in any major puddles. But once they reach the vehicle and are inside and out of the rain, they realize avoiding the puddles didn't make much of a difference as they had still become drenched and were dripping all over their seats.

"This has nothing to do with a bunny shaped cloud!" Schroeder growls at her while starting the engine.

"Schroeder can't you just admit my cloud analyzing skills are _perfect_?" She teases while leaning towards him and flirtatiously batting her eyes up at her love. He knew that she knew exactly what she was doing. He knew she was aware of how sexy she looked with her wet dress clinging to her curves. He knew she was purposely angling her cleavage into his line of sight for his attention. And he knew that she was smart enough to know that her attempts to seduce him were completely futile. What she didn't know was that despite his ability to restrain himself, she was succeeding at temping him. She was too breathtaking and frustrating not to be tempting but he always brushed it off as natural lust for an attractive person, nothing more. And definitely nothing to be acted upon.

"No, Luc. I can't." ( _ **A//N: The nickname Luc will be pronounced like "loose"**_ ) He replies staring back into her batted eyes, chuckling. "Now let's get the cloud queen home." He jokes turning back to the wheel, smirking at her rankled scrunched up nose in response to the mocking title.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Welcome to my new story, hope you're enjoying. Not sure how long it'll be until I publish a second chapter, I have plenty of ideas for this story and have a lot of it planned out but I wanna post a new chapter of my Kidge fic first. I've also lowkey had the first chapter of this one story half written for like a year now so I think I should try to finally really get that going on I'm pretty sure it'll only be a short story (few chapters) anyway so many I'll actually finish something for once. I'm really excited for everything I'm working on right now I hope you all enjoy them too! Quick note, the cover of this story is def subject to change I don't rlly like the current one but it was the closest I could get to what I wanted but im currently working on art that I may use for a cover instead. Also I hope everyone's doing ok in light of what's been going on. I urge all of you to be taking care of yourselves but also to be educating yourselves on the systemic racism that's plagued our society for centuries and fight for change. Here's a link to a carrd with some educational resources to get yourself started.
> 
> blacklivesmatter.carrd.co
> 
>   
> ~Whitney
> 
> Originally posted on Wattpad at 11:04p June 21st, 2020
> 
> Posted on AO3 at 12:54a June 22nd, 2020


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've put in soooo much research for this story and honestly I kind of want it to be noticed lol so at the end of every chapter from now on I'll be including a list of everything that's a reference from the strip in case anyone's curious

The smell of smoke filled the cramped storage room that Schroeder's mentor loosely referred to as her office. Every Monday and Thursday evening of the last year, he'd practiced on the piano that sat awkwardly among dozens of cardboard boxes of miscellaneous items and endless stacks of old books of sheet music and class lesson plans. Everything was coated with a thin layer of dust except for the slightly yellowing keys of the piano and the rickety music stand that rested above the keyboard, some of the few things in the room that had been touched in the last decade. Beside the heap of decaying nicknacks was the cluttered desk of the retired professor who ran the small mentor program out of her home. 

Dr. Heimer's gradual loss of vision that began not long after her 50th birthday and had led to her firing from her job teaching piano performance and composition some few years later, this left the elderly woman a tad bitter. She did enjoy teaching her mentees from home, observing their improvements and providing her harsh critiques while smoking a pack of Camels, but it wasn't the same as being in a classroom full of eager faces, faces she could no longer even remember the shape of.

Usually the only people that sought out her one-on-one program were at an intermediate playing level at best, quite the step down from the college students she'd taught for twenty years, but Schroeder was not merely an adequate pianist. Schroeder was better than most students she'd ever had the privilege of teaching even as a college professor. He had a natural gift like no other and teaching him was refreshing as he required little to no extensive explanations or help like the other people who'd purchased and, in her opinion had, wasted her time. She was able to be rigorous and firm and her usual disgruntled self without fear of offending the boy or pushing his limits too far. And this freedom to teach the way she wanted— the way she desperately needed after years of not being able to, also made it easier to cater to his desire to learn _everything_.

"Straighten your spine, Mr. Berdahl." Dr. Heimer instructs Schroeder and without glancing up from his sheet music of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11, he's quick to fix the mistake. "Good. Now, play with more enthusiasm. Play as though your soul depends on it." She adds but shoots her pupil a grimace after a moment of failing to hear the difference she'd requested.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Heimer. I'll practice that piece more before our next session." Schroeder assures the teacher as she puts out the butt of her cigarette in the ashtray atop her desk while he begins collecting his things to leave.

"No need. You've been back to practicing all day at your old school's auditorium since Monday, yes?" She questions, crossing her arms across her chest in a commanding and slightly intimidating manner.

"Yes." Schroeder answers, nodding and anxiously averting her stern stare despite knowing she could not even see him.

"Then you've already had four days of practice to get yourself back into shape. That's more than enough." Dr. Heimer says somewhat brusquely. Schroeder could feel his heart's pace start to quicken as he worried about the point she was leading up to. Had his performance not improved since their previous session on Monday? He was sure it would only take a day or two of practice to be back to where he was at the end of the last school year before he had to cut back on practice in the summer. The thought that he may have disappointed the idol-like educator he respected so greatly terrified him as he was not used to failure.

"I can imagine someone like you whose fingers are practically an extension of a piano's keys only needed a few hours to get back to being the best student I've ever taught." She continues smirking at his anxiety, instantly easing the boy's worries. "However, as usual Mr. Berdahl, you are still lacking quite a bit in conveying your emotion and tone." Dr. Heimer adds, regressing to her regular serious countenance. Schroeder had always found it a bit ironic that he struggled to illustrate the feelings described in pieces of music when playing his piano was one of the few ways, if not the only way, he knew how to express himself. He didn't know how to speak about what he felt or how to outwardly show it most of the time either, but he could very easily play it. Instead of smiling or laughing, he preferred to play a cheery tune. Instead of dancing with his friends at their local hangout, Donahue's, his "party" mood shown through when playing classical waltzes. And instead of crying or openly grieving, he projected his anguish through pieces of Beethoven's middle period compositions, a time when the composer suffered from a severe depression. But those were all Schroeder's own emotions which which were hard enough to understand. The emotions of others were even more puzzling and difficult to perform.

"If you want to learn how to perform with the correct tone, you're going to have to start composing and then translate how you express your own feelings to how you express the feelings of others." Dr. Heimer explains, her aged voice hoarse but firm. "Compose something by our next session on Monday." She instructs and Schroeder's head shoots up from the papers and notes he'd been picking up and messily stuffing into his satchel.

"You really think I'm ready?" He hopefully asks with bright starry eyes. Creating his own compositions was all he'd dreamt of his entire life and now the time had finally come for him to start learning how.

"It's the only way I can see you improving any further. You're at a very high level, Mr. Berdahl. You'll be able to go to school wherever you like after you're done with me." Dr. Heimer smiles warmly at her young apprentice. He really was the best student she'd ever had the honor of teaching in all her thirty plus years. When she'd been laid off ten years prior and began mentoring young pianists in her own home, she expected the only people who'd enlist her help were desperate and or untalented. But Schroeder was prodigious and took her lessons to heart. He'd reminded her of just why she'd wanted to teach in the first place-- to watch her learners grow, blossom and follow their dreams.

"Do you have a specific length in mind for the piece?" Schroeder inquires, his mind already swirling with countless potential tunes and melodies all overlapping and jumbling as he tried to contain his excitement.

"No. Just create something, anything. It doesn't have to be good, we'll talk through it on Monday." The woman brushes off his question, unworried that the passionate and dedicated pupil would ever carelessly deliver on the assignment despite the minimal expectations.

"Alright, see you then! Thanks, Dr. Heimer." He bids her farewell before taking his exit.

During the drive from his lesson, Schroeder felt at peace. The usual rush hour traffic was already beginning to let up, his favorite classical radio station was playing Beethoven's Fidelio, Lucy wasn't there to bother him with strange "what if we got married" questions, and he was going to finally begin composing. Autumn was fast approaching in his city of St. Paul, Minnesota but you'd never be able to tell with the midsummer like breeze that was dancing in the air as the boy cruised down the riverside city streets feeling the best he had in months. The moment felt so perfect and serene that after rolling down the window of his old and beat up Rover P5, Schroeder let himself fall back into the almost tangible wondrous feeling that the wind and music had invoked within him.

But of course, the moment wouldn't last for long.

Schroeder was on his way to see his best friend, Charlie Brown, at work just as he did most days after finishing his lesson or usual everyday practice. Charlie Brown had never been terribly good at anything. His grades in school were mediocre and he likely could've succeeded in getting himself accepted to a small nearby college, but his father already owned the hottest barber shop in town and the easiest route seemed to be to just follow in his footsteps. So right out of high school, he began training directly under his father and had been a full-time barber for the past six months. Charlie Brown knew it was a small achievement and that he wasn't anyone special, but becoming a barber was one of his proudest moments and he'd enjoyed feeling adequate at something for once in his life. It was for that reason that he took his job so seriously and rarely took the evenings off to spend time with his friends or to relax by himself. So, for the most part, whenever someone wanted to speak with Charlie during the week, they'd visit him at work just as Schroeder often did.

Today, as Schroeder peacefully drove to the shop, he could feel the anticipation building within him to tell his friend of his start with composition and maybe even ramble on about ideas he had despite knowing Charlie would not engage with him in the piano related banter. Hardly anyone did that as no one was nearly as knowledgeable as him on the subject. Lucy occasionally made weak attempts wanting to catch his attention, but tended to give up by the time she heard a third composer's name mentioned and could no longer keep track.

Once Schroeder finally arrived, his gaze immediately fell to the closed sign inside the window. The barber pole beside the door frame wasn't lit up or spinning and there looked to be no customers inside. The boy knew something was off. It was only 5 o'clock on a Thursday and they were supposed to be open till 7p. They never closed for any reason other than holidays or when they went out of town and Charlie Brown would've definitely notified his friend if he was going out of town or if there had been some emergency that had made them close. Feeling confused by the sign and the absence of the usual evening rush of customers, Schroeder reaches for the door and to his surprise, finds it unlocked. Taking a cautious step inside glancing around the seemingly empty shop, he calls out to his friend. "Charlie!?" Once the door had closed behind him, a quiet melody drifted through the door of the back room. "Charlie Brown!" Schroeder shouts marching through the shop to the door from which the music could be heard and the sounds of the radio in the small storage room quickly flooded the main area as he swung it open. "Charlie? What are you doing on the floor?" Schroeder asks confused by the sight of his mate sitting down pathetically against of shelves in the dimly lit space with a sorrowful expression across his features.

"Charlie!" The boy pesters again after a moment, annoyed by his friend's failure to acknowledge his entrance.

"Shermy's dead." Charlie Brown announces bluntly, doing the best to hide the crack in his voice.

Shermy had been a member of their friend group since their gang were tots but had always been especially closer to Charlie Brown and Patty. In recent years though, he'd grown a bit apart from the bunch, not for any particular reason, just simply drifted off in the way friends occasionally do. However, no one had spoken even a word to Shermy in the last year. It wasn't that he was in favor of being drafted, but the boy hadn't desired to try and go through the exhausting process of seeking deferment by attending school when he didn't want to or taking on a job he couldn't stand. Besides, his father had served in World War 2 and he'd always thought his father had turned out alright. So when Shermy was drafted, he thought to himself that if his dad could handle a world war, _what's the worst that could happen in Vietnam?_ Unfortunately, the worst did happen.

"Oh." Schroeder mutters after a moment as his shoulders sag at the news. After taking a moment to contemplate what to do next, he finally settled on taking a seat beside his friend on the floor. He wanted to say something comforting and helpful to Charlie but he didn't know what the appropriate thing to do or respond with was for the same reason he struggled to convey the correct tone when performing, he never knew how to handle the emotions of others. Schroeder felt socially oblivious even with those he was closest too. _What would I want if I were in Charlie's shoes?_ He asked himself but "listening to Beethoven alone in his room" didn't seem like the correct answer.

"I should've been there for him more before he left, Schroeder!" Charlie Brown snaps over the sounds of the music that was still playing, turning his head to face his friend. He appeared haunted by his grief and anguish. The circles under his eyes were endless dark caverns, his hair was unkept and untamed not unlike overgrown grass fields, and his skin looked ashen and ghostly, as if he had been the one who died instead.

"Charlie, Shermy knew you cared for him." Schroeder's voice was hesitant as he felt unsure if these were the words that needed to be heard but decided he must be on the right track as his friend's body seemed to relax a bit against the shelves.

"He's gone." Charlie whispers, struggling to fight back the tears. He sounded rough and broken, as if he been crying for hours and had been left with a sore throat.

"No, no!" Schroeder blurts out grabbing his friend by the arms and forcing him to look him in the eye. "There'll be no crying in a supply closet, Charlie! Shermy was a happy man and he wouldn't want to see any tears from his friend. Got it?" He was practically shouting at his friend, desperately needing him to hear his words not just to keep his friend from breaking down, but also because he had no idea how he'd comfort his friend if he began crying. He was already clueless enough as it was.

"But-." Charlie Brown begins protesting but is immediately cut off by his friend.

"No 'buts,' Charlie Brown!" Schroeder reiterates shaking him once, hoping to get it through his head how serious he was. "C'mon, let's go have a smoke at the ball field to clear our heads." He suggests standing off the floor and yanking Charlie's sluggish arm up with him. "I'll even let you pitch to me a few times if you think that'll make you feel better. I'll do whatever pitches you like." Despite the severe ache of in his heart, Charlie couldn't ignore the effort Schroeder was putting in. He knew how uncomfortable this situation had to be making his friend feel and he appreciated just how hard he was trying in spite of that.

The short car ride was completely silent except for the quiet notes emitting from the radio. Normally, Schroeder would've found this ideal and relaxing, but at the moment, as his friend sat hunched over in the passenger seat resting his head on the dashboard, the silence made him feel desperately uncertain of what he was doing. _Should I be saying something?_ He asked himself as he anxiously tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel.

"We're here." Schroeder states pulling up beside the dusty ball field him and his friends had grew up playing on. _Shit. What if this reminds him too much of Shermy?_

"Shermy was always such a good first base player." Charlie mumbles keeping his head down in an attempt to hide the silent tears that he'd failed to keep at bay.

"This was a bloody stupid idea to bring you here wasn't it?" Schroeder groans banging his head against his steering wheel in frustration over how confused he felt on what to do.

"No." Charlie Brown admits finally sitting up and wiping his tears on his sleeve. "I need this." His voice came out as almost a growl before he opened the door and stepped out, his eyes immediately landing on an object resting against the wooden fence around the field.

"It is?" Schroeder asks confused but decides it didn't matter why or how this was the right thing to do. All the was important to him was making his friend feel a bit better. "Is the ball you keep by the mound here right now?" He asks watching his friend stride towards the object.

"I'm not interested in the ball." Charlie snarls as he approached the wooden bat before snatching it off the ground. Schroeder followed close behind his friend confused and worried about how he may be about to take out his anger and whether or not he should try to stop him.

"Uhh where you going with that, Charlie?" Schroeder questions his voice shaky and his eyes wide. Charlie Brown didn't respond. He simply strolled over to the lone old oak tree that stood just beyond the field and swung the bat against its trunk as forcefully as his scrawny arms could. "Charlie!" Schroeder exclaimed shocked and perplexed by the barmy thing his friend was doing but Charlie Brown continued to beat the bark. "Charlie, stop! The tree didn't kill Shermy, you blockhead." He scolds as a chunk of bark falls to the ground and a crack is heard from the bat as it slams against the tree once more.

"Well the guy who did isn't here!" Charlie shouts turning to his friend and finally tossing the bat to the ground. His face was gravely contorted as the fury within in him came bursting out. Charlie Brown was used to keeping his feelings bottled up and hidden as he knew even the group of people he called his friends rarely cared to hear about his problems. It wasn't that they didn't care about his well-being, they simply couldn't stand listening to his constant self deprecation and pity, the usual source of his issues to begin with. While he'd gotten into the habit of no one listening, this was different. He needed to openly feel and grieve. He needed support and was terrified of not receiving it, even from his best friend. The pent up rage that needed to be released was pouring out now in the form of beating an innocent tree. It was a cry for help.

"Charlie." Schroeder began speaking to his hurting friend softly, being careful to hold eye contact to show he was here and could see how much he needed him. "Let's sit down and breathe, alright?" He suggests resting his hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "C'mon mate. Take a seat and have a smoke and we can talk this out, okay?" Despite his calm and steady tone, Schroeder was still in doubt of his abilities to handle the situation and help his companion. _How does one even be sensitive?_ He pondered as the two settled down against the tree that moments ago Charlie Brown had been assaulting.

Schroeder's quick to pull out the promised cigarettes for the two boys before lighting them up and taking a long, slow, and much needed drag as a cool, calm, subtle breeze blew gently rustling the leaves above them.

"It wasn't a solider that killed him either, you know." Schroeder remarks after taking a moment to let his heartbeat settle and muscles relax.

"What do you mean?" Charlie Brown barks at his friend's seemingly stupid claim, his eyes darting to glare at the laid back boy beside him.

"It was the war, Charlie." He asserts exhaling a steady puff of smoke without giving his friend even a sideways glance knowing he'd only be met with the same rage he'd had aimed at the tree only a few minutes ago.

"Yeah. A soldier in a war killed Shermy." Charlie Brown swallowed the cry that threatened to escape as he uttered the words but failed to stop the single tear that slide down his face as he took a breath of his own smoke.

"No, Charlie. Shermy could've just as easily killed a Vietnamese soldier and that soldier could've had an upset friend beating a tree. It just happened to be the other way around this time." Schroeder elaborated waving his hand and cigarette around as he gestured to Charlie and the tree. "The soldier isn't the one to blame. Shermy's death is just another senseless act of violence at the hands of a fatuous war." He continues, his voice becoming increasingly dour and his expression quickly shifting to more serious and stony.

"Then fuck the war!" Charlie bawled standing up and stomping his barely smoked cigarette into the ground out of anger before pacing around, needing to let out the tension building inside him again. This time however, Schroeder found himself unbothered by his friend's outburst as he agreed with the sentiment.

"Exactly. _Fuck. Every. War._ " He spat out each word like it was dirt on his tongue. "It's 1969, you'd think humans would've evolved past things as silly as wars by now." Schroeder utters shaking his head disapprovingly at the world before bringing his cigarette back to his lips.

"What's the point of ANY war? What's so important that we should just be forced to send ourselves away to die?" Charlie Brown rhetorically asks, feeling irate as he kicks the tree in an attempt to let out the resentment inside him.

"That's just the thing, Charlie. As long as the politicians aren't the ones getting killed, they can say a war is about whatever they wanna say it's about." Schroeder broaches, leering up at his angry friend.

"Well then someone oughta get rid of them." He flares trapping his discarded bat between his foot and the ground as the urge to use it again starts to intensify.

"Oh hush, Charlie. No need to go bashing Nixon's head in with your bat." Schroeder teases, mocking him somewhat disdainfully prompting Charlie to kick his bat away.

"Oh yeah? And why shouldn't we?" He asks, quickly spinning around to face the boy who appeared much more at ease than he was not long ago as he watched the sun setting on the horizon with a cigarette pressed between his lips.

"Because someday, you'll be one of them, Charlie." Schroeder reveals, much more austerely than he intended. However, he was speaking the truth.

"What do you mean? I'm never gonna be a politician!" Charlie Brown exclaims, both confused and slightly offended but a bit less tense as his focus was now on Schroeder's strange words instead of his friend's death.

"Not a politician, an old twat." The boy begins feeling himself about to overflow with frustration he didn't even realize he had. "This war will end eventually and then there'll be another war, and another and another. And someday, you and everyone else will be the ones yelling at the youth complaining about how they're all 'dirty hippies' or 'deranged queer' or 'Russian commies' and how the men are all too pussy to go to a war that we ourselves don't even understand the meaning of. This is just the way things go. No amount of dead politicians is gonna end human idiocy and hypocrisy. So don't go getting your dirty little panties in a bunch over something that's out of your control." Schroeder pauses while taking another drag of his cigarette to give his pal a moment to mull over his words before continuing. "They'll probably even give us some stupid nickname, yeah what is it they're calling our generation?" He asks shifting his tone to something lighthearted but deeply pained, almost humorously grudging.

"Baby boomers." Charlie quietly answers, avoiding Schroeder's gaze as he processes his friend's brutally honest words.

"Yeahhh! We'll be all grey and wrinkly and the kids will laugh and call us something wickedly brainless like 'boomer babies.'" Schroeder jokes, laughing at the illustration in his head before falling silent. After a minute of feeling the wave of the harsh reality of the world, Charlie Brown finally decided to sit back down beside his friend and light another cigarette. Schroeder was right, humans were stupid and the world was cruel. History would repeat itself and his dead friend would be forgotten as just another tragic casualty of a meaningless war.

"You said 'you and everyone else,' so what will you be doing?" Charlie asks after unwinding with his smoke for a few minutes. Schroeder didn't realize it, but reminding his friend of how sucky the world really was and that fact that there was nothing they could do about it and giving him a couple of cancer sticks happened to be just the thing Charlie Brown needed to finally breathe for the first time in hours.

"Same thing I'm always doing: hiding away in a corner with my piano and Beethoven busts." Schroeder's voice had not a single hint of exaggeration or playfulness but the idea still seemed silly and absurd to Charlie Brown and everyone else he knew.

"So you're serious about that staying single for life like Beethoven crap aren't you? You're never going to survive on that 'look don't touch' code of honor." Charlie mocks while shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Girls are fun to look at _and_ touch but I don't feel romantic attraction to anyone." He replies, taking an inhale of his light to push away the slight tightening of his stomach that was forming as the words fell out of his mouth— a tightening that only seemed to happen when he uttered a lie. Schroeder was a bad liar and Charlie Brown could always detect when his friend wasn't being truthful with him, including on this occasion, but decided now was not the time to pester him about it.

"Schroeder, I admire you." Charlie Brown declares, putting out his cigarette in the dirt beside him.

"Well it's about time someone did." Schroeder says sarcastically, not bothering to ask what he meant or where he was going with this knowing Charlie would explain anyway.

"You just accept the world as it is and move on with your piano and Beethoven without a care in the world." He explains, throwing up his arms gesturing to the Earth while allowing his body to slump against the ground as if deciding to admit defeat in life after their previous conversation.

"No, no, no, NO!" Schroeder rebuffs, shaking his head furiously feeling almost insulted by the comment. "You've got it all wrong, Charlie. I'm don't 'just accept it.'" He begins, using air quotes and speaking exaggeratedly while reciting his friend's seemingly ridiculous words. "I'm running from it. I use the piano to transport myself to other worlds, far away from this shitty one." Schroeder elucidates. The mistake was small and he realized it didn't make much of a difference how Charlie interpreted his life, but it was important him that he correct his pal or anyone else on a matter that he was so passionate about. Perhaps even the only matter he was passionate about at all. Music, to him, was the way that he interacted with the world, not an accessory to his life.

"Schroeder, did you get high before you came to the shop again?" Charlie asks, teasing Schroeder for the whimsical description.

"I wish. I've been way too sober for this conversation. Speaking of which, I know what'll cheer you up." Schroeder starts, pushing himself off the dirt. "Let's get everyone together at Donahue's tomorrow night and get blasted." He suggests attempting to fabricate enthusiasm, unintentionally slipping into his British accent.

"But you hate being around people." Charlie Brown reminds, raising an eyebrow surprised that this idea was coming from his best friend.

"True, but Shermy deserves a fun night of booze and weed for a send off." Schroeder says extending his hand for Charlie to help him stand. "And everyone he left behind in the shitty world of the living deserves it too."

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

**References to the comic strip that were made in the chap (if uninterested, skip to end for author's note):**

References from last chapter besides the comic strips:

\- Lucy really does think she's perfect in every way and knowledgeable about everything.

\- Lucy rejects most science especially in some of her earlier strips when Linus was just a toddler she'd take him on walks around the neighborhood and tell him all about nature using her own mystical theories (she's definitely the type of person to be a flat earther only she'd take it to a whole different level and say that the flat planet is really like a piece of paper on a table somewhere in space and the sky is fake and a painting on the ceiling of the room our planet is in). She also makes up random statistics and uses it to win arguments.

\- Schroeder does secretly think Lucy is beautiful and sort've likes her however this is revealed only a select few times during the entire strip.

\- Schroeder really doesn't want a relationship because he wants to model his life off Beethoven and remain a bachelor forever.

\- Schroeder always always plays a toy piano in the strip and one time Charlie Brown put him in front of a grand piano and Schroeder got intimidated and cried. Schroeder can play the toy piano as if it's a grand piano, an organ, or a toy piano though (even though this isn't possible). Of course however, since everyone's aged up in this story and it's supposed to be realistic, I wanted him to mostly use a grand piano except when he's just out and about and carries around his toy piano like a safety blanket.

\- In the earlier strips when Lucy was younger, she loved to read and would get super excited at all the "suspense" and the punch line of this joke was the books she was reading were made for like four year olds and were usually things like "A is for Alligator, B is for Balloon." So that's where I got the idea that she'd love reading and love learning words.

\- Lucy does tend to be more contemplative around Schroeder however it mostly consists of her asking him questions that start with "what if we got married and..."

\- Lucy really did once throw Schroeder's piano down a sewer in a multi-strip gag in October 1974.

References from this chap:

\- Shermy was of the three original characters in the strip besides Charlie Brown and Patty however as others characters were introduced, his appearances became sparse over the two decades following the original premier of the strip in October, 1950. His final appearance came in 1969 and honestly, despite him being an unpopular and, by that point, practically unknown character, I found it sad that he was phased out so early in the strip as I adored the adorable early strips of the early 1950's in which he appeared frequently. However, I also didn't want him to be a major character in my story especially since I wanted so many other Peanuts characters to be present. There simply wasn't room for him in my story but I decided to pay tribute to him by acknowledging his departure from the Peanuts character's lives in 1969, the same year in which my story is set.

\- Schroeder was never given a last name in the strip and it was actually unknown if 'Schroeder' was his first or last name especially since Charles M. Shultz named him after a caddie he used to know back in his home town of St. Paul, Minnesota (which is also referenced in this chapter) whose last name was Schroeder and Shultz never learned his first in the time he knew the boy. But, I wanted to give Schroeder a last name and I didn't want it to be Schroeder because I liked the idea of using Schroeder to give him a more "unusual" first name. 'Halverson' was my first idea as a last name as Halverson was both Shultz's mother's and first wife's maiden name (no relation). However, I decided I didn't like the sound of 'Schroeder Halverson' but thought it would be a good idea to pick a Norwegian last name that starts with the letter 'B' because Shultz heavily identified with his mother's Norwegian heritage and also found words that started with 'B' to be funny. It's the reason why he made Schroeder's favorite composer/pianist Beethoven and why he used words like "blockhead" regularly throughout the strip. That's when I found 'Berdahl' and decided I liked how 'Schroeder Berdahl' sounded.

\- Not only was it known in the strip that Charlie Brown's father owned a barber shop, but Shultz's father had also owned one and that detail was based on his own life.

\- If you know even a little bit about Peanuts, you probably know how much they all play baseball (Charlie Brown is a pitcher and Schroeder is a catcher) and how much Charlie Brown especially enjoys it despite being a lousy player and team manager. Charlie Brown also regularly asked Schroeder to let him do a bunch of different elaborate pitches and was regularly turned down by his friend so when Schroeder offers to allow Charlie Brown to do "whatever pitches he like" that's what that's referencing. Also, it's true that Shermy played first base in the strip.

\- There's a few other references made in the chapter that I can't really go into detail about without spoiling things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm sorry this chap took so long I've had it 95% of the way done for a long time it just took awhile to fill in some things and finish editing but the next chap should come sooner since it's also mostly done I just need to finish this one scene I've been struggling on for awhile. I'm hoping between now and when I release chapter 4 of this book I will have released the next chap of my kidge fix Together in the Stars but no promises because if you've followed my writing for awhile you know I'm undisciplined af lol. I hope y'all have been doing ok through the craziness that is the world right now hmu if u ever need someone to talk to I'll be happy to listen. Btw my new pronouns are she/they/he I have no problem if you continue referring to me as she I just don't want to be called 'Whitney' anymore, at least online. I haven't chosen a new name but for now I've requested people online just call me by my username, ladieboog.
> 
> ~Ladieboog
> 
> Originally posted on Wattpad at 6:33p August 7th, 2020
> 
> Posted on AO3 at 7:02p August 7th, 2020


	3. Alcohol

_**(A//N Just a warning this chap is super long but I hope y'all like it. Also reminder that there'll be a list of references made as well as an author's note at the end.** _

_**While reading this chapter, you should be aware that this story is set in 1969 when the drinking age was only 18, there will be a bit of sexual content in this chapter, and Peppermint Patty and Patty are two different people. Peppermint Patty will sometimes be referred to as Peppermint but only Patty will be called just Patty.** _

_**Enjoy!)** _

"Why does Lucy get shotgun?" Violet whines from the cramped backseat where she was struggling to find an escape from Pig-Pen's odor as he and herself were squeezed between Patty and Frieda.

"Because I'm the prettiest." Lucy declares, proudly flashing her smile and dramatically tossing her hair over her shoulder..

"Violet, I'll trade seats with you if you like! I don't mind sitting next to Pig-Pen." Patty proposes with feigned generosity as she secretly wanted to sit beside him.

"Ugh, Patty! I will NOT sit back here while you flirt with him." Violet grouses while attempting to scrub her brain of the image of her friend cozying up to the walking dust pile.

"At least you guys don't have to deal with his coat of dirt ruining your naturally curly hair!" Frieda fusses and it was at this point that the driver groaned and began questioning why he had agreed to drive anyone in the first place.

"Knock it off! If you didn't want to be in my car, you could've ridden with Charlie Brown." Schroeder smirks, satisfied as the bunch collectively cries out in disgust at the idea of riding with their wishy-washy friend. "And Lucy only got shotgun because I was already driving her from school so she was in the car first." He adds and the angry girl beside him replies with a pout. "Ugh, but I guess I probably would've let you have shotgun anyway, ONLY because I'm already used to having you in my car." Schroeder admits. He wasn't in the mood to have her upset and crabby with him. Instantly, her smile is beaming up at him again before she whips around to boastfully stick her tongue out at the backseat crew behind them.

"So then who _is_ riding with Charlie Brown?" Pig-Pen asks while still trying to adjust himself into a less awkward position between Frieda and Violet.

"Franklin, Marcie, Peppermint, Linus, and Sally." Seizing the opportunity to speak with her crush, Patty answers before Schroeder gets the chance. The two quickly become engrossed in conversation with one another leaving Violet to sulk at the lack of personal space and Frieda to fret over her sullying curls.

"What time does your father want you home by tonight?" Schroeder lowers his voice to direct his question at Lucy.

"He didn't give an exact time, I'll be 18 soon enough and he trusts you to look after me anyway." She replies without removing her gaze from the mesmerizing oranges and pinks painted across the sky, forming the sunset. Schroeder had known her since she was born and had been driving her to and from school and to all of their friend group's hangouts for the past few years, yet he still found himself a little surprised by Lucy's words as he'd never stopped to consider that her father may trust him above others. If anything, Schroeder had assumed Mr. and Mrs. van Pelt were especially wary of him as it was no secret to anyone, even her parents, that Lucy was infatuated with him.

"Alright, then I guess I'll have to be the one to say it: 'you better be on your best behavior tonight, young lady.'" Schroeder jokes, shooting her a playful smile. Lucy pulls her stare away from the sunset and turns to ogle at the boy with the same lovestruck eyes she'd been looking at him with all her life.

"And what are you going to do if I don't behave?" Her alluring voice questions just above a whisper. Lucy bites her lower lip seductive and teasingly and her mouth quirks into a smirk as she observes the way her suggestive actions affect him. The way his bright eyes swiftly darken, the way he swallows as his throat abruptly goes dry, and the way he struggles to pull his eyes away from her cerise colored lips. She hadn't managed to seduce him yet but Lucy knew she'd won this round and sat back against her seat feeling satisfied with herself. _One day, you'll find yourself unable to resist me, Schroeder._ The girl thinks, suddenly feeling extra excited to spend the evening with him.

The gang was on their way to their local hangout spot, Donahue's, one of the area's best kept secrets as it sat underground beneath a boutique and the only entrance was a door on the side of the building in a narrow alleyway which led to a steep staircase to get down to the joint. You'd never know to walk off the sidewalk and turn into the dark unlit pathway between the Waffle House and clothes store unless you'd been invited. It wasn't a secret many patrons advertised to the general public either. The main crowd in attendance were bohemians, beatniks, and other assorted outsiders who weren't keen to share this secluded paradise of freedom and acceptance with "normal" people who'd just crash in on their fun. Schroeder, Lucy, and their friends didn't quite fall into the categories of hippie or outsider, but they were all a bit lost in the world and viewed Donahue's as a nice escape from the bizarre society they were coming of age in.

"Ok, we're here. Everyone get out and I'll go park around the corner." Schroeder instructs his passengers.

"Ugh finally." Violet exclaims disgusted while climbing out of the car, vigorously trying to brush off any dirt that Pig-Pen had rubbed onto her. After the back seat had emptied, Lucy remained in her seat, completely quiet almost as if she believed she could stay silent enough for Schroeder not to notice her presence.

"You too, Luc." He nods at the door to her.

"But I wanna-" She starts in the usual whiney tone she used when fussing for things she wanted but Schroeder was not having it. He'd known her long enough to be able to easily ignore her fussing and begging and knew she responded well to firm orders that didn't leave any room for discussion or negotiation. If Lucy sensed there was some way to get what she wanted, she would.

"Out. Now, Luc." He interrupts without hesitation and sends her a serious leer.

"Fine." She huffs crabbily, rolling her eyes before climbing out of the car onto the sidewalk. Schroeder let out a sigh of relief as he pulls away to park around the block and Charlie Brown drives up in his place to let out his own vehicle of passengers. He'd managed to survive driving a car full of imbeciles without any damage to him or his car except for the bit of dirt Pig-Pen had left in the backseat.

"Hey Schroeder!" Charlie Brown calls out to him from his car. Sticking his head out the window and looking back, Schroeder could see his friend had pulled up behind him as he approached the small and torn up parking alley that was squeezed between two buildings a street way from Donahue's.

"You reckon we'll ever find a spot?" Schroeder quips yelling back to his friend. The sun was now completely set but the lot still glowed from the Edison bulb lights that were strung about. The lot was always jammed full of psychedelically painted Volkswagen vans that seemed to tower above and outshine the small number of stodgy cars that were peppered around. Among the vans, were the occasional bunch of tripped out pals who were trying to calm their minds before returning to the bar. Several vans had music piping out the voices of Ron Dante, Mick Jagger, Tommy James, Marvin Gaye, and Jim Morrison and several others had their doors open, welcoming any and all who walked by to join in on their party of free love and acceptance. The place felt alive, as if it had a heartbeat that was fueled by the party-like atmosphere that danced around.

Schroeder smiles to himself when he spots a small opening between two vans. It was going to be a tight fit, but he knew he could make it work as long as he remained focused which is why he decided to ignore the pretty face poking her head out the window of one of the vans he was wedging himself between. "Hey there, you coming to join us?" The singsong voice calls out to Schroeder peering down into his car from her elevated view.

"Maybe some other time, darling." He keeps his eyes trained on the parking spot he was trying to wiggle into, not wanting to get distracted.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come join us, handsome?" The girl asks again sounding extra flirty, peaking Schroeder's interest and leading him to glance up at her. The flower crowned, freckled, and somewhat sunburnt beauty giggled at the way his jaw dropped for a moment at the sight of her long and straight strawberry blonde hair barely covering her topless chest. His short glance quickly turned into a full on stare and he couldn't help but stop his car in place to allow himself a moment of viewing.

"You sure make it look tempting." He answers smirking at the shameless woman looking down at him before pushing on the gas to finally bring his car into its spot. "But unfortunately, I gotta go meet up with my friends." He steps out of his car and tilts his head up to watch her reaction.

"Promise you'll come join us sometime, cutie?" She flirtatiously bites her lip while pushing her hair to the side to expose her chest for him, receiving a chuckle and approving smile as the boy watched.

"As long as you're still looking like this when I do." He takes a step closer and looks up to her eyes in search of permission to touch the chest in front of him. Once she nods, Schroeder reaches out and roughly squeeze her tits, loving the softness in his hands. The girl lets out a loud, exaggerated moan egging him on and he obliges by taking her nipples between his teeth, biting and caressing with his tongue. Schroeder's lips curve into a smile against her soft skin at her reaction but it fades quickly as he fails to suppress the small groan that escapes from him when she grabs a hold of his hair.

"Schroeder!" Charlie Brown exclaims in shock at that raunchy scene in front of him and the pair instantly whips their heads toward him in surprise, feeling a bit sheepish that they'd been caught. Schroeder had almost forgotten where he was or that he'd been waiting for his friend to find a parking spot as well.

"Well, I think that's my cue." Schroeder chuckles, glancing up at the woman and dropping his hands from her.

"See you later." The girl winks teasingly before disappearing back inside her van.

"You were alone for less than five minutes!" Charlie Brown comments almost disbelievingly as his friend approaches appearing as though he were trying to hold back a laugh.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault. She came onto me!" Charlie rolls his eyes with a sigh, a bit stunned by his friend's actions but also quite amused. "But sorry, mate. Let's go catch up with the rest now. Hopefully they had enough brain cells amongst themselves to get a big enough table for our bunch." Schroeder scoffs thinking about his friends and brushing off the encounter with the stranger as the two boys begin the short trek back across the street to the bar.

"Well what do you know, they scored us a halfway decent booth and an only partially broken table!" Schroeder announces sarcastically over the blasting music to his friend once he spots their group across the bar from the entrance. The room was crowded but not much worse than any other Friday at Donahue's and to the boys' surprise, the ever present cloud of smoke from various cigarettes around the room was actually a tad less dense than the norm, making the room feel cooler and a little more open. Still, the smoke accompanied by the harsh color changing lights, crowd of dancers, and lounging groups was enough to make anyone feel sweat start to bead on their forehead and neck the moment they entered. Charlie Brown and Schroeder wasted no time removing their jackets and hanging them up before wiggling through the crowd to meet their friends.

"Hey, Chuck's here!" Peppermint Patty declares, abandoning her game of wall darts to rush over to the approaching boys.

"And Schroeder!" Lucy chimes before reaching out to snatch up his arm and pull him into the booth beside her. "Now, we all can get drinks!" She cheers and the faces of everyone in the group, except for Sally and Linus who were hanging out beside themselves in the corner as they were too young to engage in most of the fun activities with their friends, suddenly brightened as they rallied together in excitement. Tonight, they all were going to drink until they couldn't even remember why they decided to in the first place. They were going to drink until they forgot Shermy's name.

"They're not gonna serve you anything, little miss." Schroeder reminds, waving his finger disapprovingly at the girl who'd dragged him into the seat while detaching her hand from his arm. "They might let you in since you're with us but they're still not gonna serve you. You're not 18 yet."

"Yes they will!" She counters, pulling a face, offended by the remark.

"Why's that?" He asks, holding back his smirk as he waited for a response, feeling certain that he knew the girl well enough to guess she was going to bring up how her looks could get her whatever she wanted.

"All it'll take is a bat of my eyelashes and pout of my lips and they'll pour me whatever I ask." Schroeder immediately bursts out a laugh, unable to control himself.

"You sound pretty sure of yourself, Luc." He mocks, trying to contain his snickers at her arrogant-level confidence, knowing the bartenders here gave NO ONE special treatment. They were too desperate to keep their services as legal as possible knowing one wrong step, and the police would have them shut down as they were already unpopular with them, being mostly overrun with "anti-establishment sinners" and all.

"I am! After all, my beauty and wiles work on you." She slyly mentions with a smug grin and the boy turns away quickly trying to hide the blush creeping upon his cheeks. "HA! You're blushing!" She taunts.

"Just go get your bloody drink, Luc." He shrugs her off before stepping out of the booth closely followed behind by her. By the time the two approach the bar, splitting up to hail down separate bartenders, the rest of their gang had received their drinks and were returning back to their tables except for Frieda who Schroeder did his best to avoid while patiently waiting behind eager customers to order his drink.

"Piano boy!" Frieda hollers for his attention, making him wince at the loud shriek and several sets of strangers' curious and annoyed eyes that fell on him as a result.

"Hi, Frieda." Schroeder mumbles avoiding eye contact and clenching his jaw as she bounces excitedly next to him. Frieda and him had never interacted much on their own, but when they did, she was even more incessant with her bids at flirting with him than Lucy. And unlike Lucy who was usually rude out of ignorance of social conventions or because of her genuine belief that she really was perfect in almost every way, Frieda was simply intentionally a bully to most, especially to Schroeder's best friend Charlie Brown.

"Did you notice I did my hair for you tonight, Schroeder?" She twirls a curl around her finger while fluttering her eyelashes up at the boy.

"I thought you said Pig-Pen was ruining your hair." He's quick to reply without sparing her eyes or "naturally curly hair" even a glance.

"He did a little but I still have the prettiest hair in the room, don't you think?" She asks and finally Schroeder turns to look at her. There was nothing pretty about her. Her curls were luscious, her smile bright, her skin soft, but it all was tainted by the aura of complete self-importance and insolence.

"What are you doing here, Frieda?" Lucy's cool and collected voice rolls in from behind Schroeder, catching the pair's attention.

"Who wants to know? Maybe I just like talking to piano boy here." Frieda sasses back winking at him. Schroeder's eyes quickly dart between the two girls before settling on Lucy's wavering polite smile, feeling himself tense up as he worried about what she might do to the curly red-head who, in her mind, was trying to snatch her man. But to his surprise, a moment later, Lucy appears to compose herself completely and the fists she'd been clenching at her side quickly relax before she speaks again.

"Well alright then." She says calmly. Her warm demeanor was off-putting to Schroeder as it seemed so out of character. Surely she'd try and claw Frieda's eyes out any second now.

"What can I get you to drink?" The bartender asks the boy, pulling his concentration away from the two girls. He'd known exactly what he was getting even before he'd gotten into the car to drive to Donahue's as he almost always had the same drink, yet he still couldn't beat Lucy's quick response.

"He'll have a Scotch, neat." She states matter-of-factly drawing the surprised eyes of both Frieda and Schroeder.

"Yeah, th-that's it." He confirms before staring down curiously taken aback by the girl. "How did yo-"

"You know how I take my tea, I know how you take your alcohol." She whispers, giving him a sweet and sincere smile, a rare expression from her that was rewarded with a grin and twinkle in his eye. Whether he was willing to admit it to himself or not, Lucy likely knew him better than anyone just like he knew her better than anyone too. He knew he was the only one who could see through her perfect, confident girl exterior.

"Wow! Could you teach me other things about him?" Frieda booms beside the two, pulling them out of their brief but intimate moment.

"Hmm. Well, Frieda." Lucy starts, sounding as if she was about to begin a lesson on etiquette and manners that needed to be followed in order to interact with Schroeder. "Do you like Beethoven?" She asks curiously.

"What?" Frieda's expression screws up into one of confusion and slight disgust.

"If you're going to hang around Schroeder, you've got to like Beethoven." Lucy explains casually, masking the anticipation for what she guessed was going to be the girl's next response.

"Well, alright. But I'll just have a small glass." Schroeder chokes on his Scotch before spinning his head to look at the curly haired monster who'd just uttered such offensive words.

  
[January 1970 Peanuts Strip Reference](https://imgur.com/gallery/04Tw429)

"Frieda, your hair looks ugly." He growls and the girl's eyes shoot up from her nails that she'd been peering at and straight to Schroeder's enraged face. She storms off scoffing without hesitation, feeling starkly insulted by his affront. "Cunt." Schroeder mumbles before taking another swallow from his drink and glances down at Lucy who was failing terribly at stifling her victorious smile. "You rather enjoyed that, didn't you?" The boy chuckles as she finally allows her giddy laugh to spill out.

"Maybe." She admits shamelessly, smiling to herself with pride and satisfaction.

"So where's that drink you said you were off to get?" He mocks and her expression of dignity is quickly replaced by one of embarrassment and irritation. "Oh no, was your pretty face not enough to charm the bartender?" Schroeder goads, tauntingly leaning down to try and see the chagrin in her eyes, however, he's only met with happy hopeful ones after he's said his words.

"Are you calling me pretty, Schroeder?" She smirks while getting up close to his face and he rolls his eyes, looking away to stop himself from staring at her for too long and boosting her ego even more.

"I'll buy you a drink if you admit that your looks weren't enough to get you one." He challenges finishing off his drink and waving the bartender over for another.

"Aughhh." She groans averting his gaze before mumbling her admission.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." Schroeder chaffs, somewhat wanting to see her have one of her usual crabby outbursts.

"I couldn't get the drink!" She snaps furiously, stomping her foot and balling up her hands into fists like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Can I get refill on my Scotch, neat, and a Tom Collins?" He asks with a polite smile, turning away from Lucy to the bartender.

"But I didn't even tell you what I wanted." Lucy whines smacking his arm in annoyance.

"Trust me, Luc. You're gonna like this." He reassures her before taking the drink from the bartender and carrying it back to their booth. When they finally arrive back, their previous seats at the table had been snatched by Marcie and Peppermint Patty so the two opted to stand a bit away, trying their best not to run into dancers or other people walking around. "Here, taste it." He instructs loudly, trying to speak over the music and hands her the drink.

"Ooh it has a cherry!" She exclaims excited before taking a sip. With the first taste, her eyes immediately go wide and shoot up to Schroeder in approval and she finds herself taking a bigger sip than she planned.

"Ya like?" He asks, laughing at her blissful smile, taking a drink of his own glass as she nods approvingly.

"Lucy, Schroeder!" A voice suddenly calls them and the two turn to see Franklin yelling from their booths as the rest of the gang gets up from their seats. "We're all gonna play pool in the back, come join!" They pass through the throngs of dancers to join in with the group and follow them towards the back room that contained: pool tables, dart boards, pin-ball machines, and other assorted games. As usual, the room was packed full of people shoulder-to-shoulder like a sweaty can of sardines, chatting and laughing in what felt a world away from the dance floor, music, and bustling lounge areas of the main room. Smoke didn't only fill the air, it was the air— twice as thick of a cloud at the bar and the temperature of the room, twice as hot with the low hanging ceiling lights beating down on the smoking, packed-in partiers. However, unlike the livelier space outside, the smell of pot was ever prevalent and there was the occasional rando in the corner on the verge of needing to head to the parking lot to calm down from their acid trip.

"Charlie, wanna light up while we're in here?" Schroeder yells, peaking around to see the front of the train of their friends that were inching through the room to a partially open space.

"Sure!" He calls back and Schroeder takes out a cigarette for himself before tossing his pack and lighter up to Charlie Brown.

"Can I have one?" Lucy boldly asks, curiously eyeing the stick between his fingers.

"What for? I'm not giving you one just so you can try and impress me. That's not the way to do it." He informs her dismissively but she immediately protests.

"No, I'm not doing it for you! In fact, I've had them before at sleepovers with Patty and Violet. It just seems relaxing right now, that's all." Lucy explains and Schroeder mulls it over for a moment, watching the girl carefully as she folds her arms and ducks her face from his gaze, appearing almost shy. The sight made him chuckle. Little miss perfect was embarrassed to admit she wasn't so perfect.

"Alright. Here." He agrees, finally pulling one out for her. "But I better not catch you throwing any of it away just because you don't like it or I'll never waste one on you again." He mentions firmly while lighting her stick.

Her ruby lips puckered around the tip of the cigarette that sat delicately between her fingers as she inhaled a puff of smoke and leaned back against the wall. Her hair was beginning to frizz up as a result of the humidity of the room and she was sure she already looked a bit of a mess, but she didn't care. She was letting her worries about that and the knowledge that she'd soon begin sweating so much that her black dress would stick to her back drift away so that she could relax in a little corner of the world without worrying about being perfect for a moment.

As she let out the breath of smoke, Schroeder watched her carefully, finding himself a bit dazed. Not because the dense fumes surrounding him were clouding his brain or because he was two scotches into the night, although those things certainly didn't help, but because as Lucy allowed herself to loosen up and be a bit of a frazzled mess to drop the facade of perfection that she constantly donned for a moment, relaxing her muscles and releasing the tension from her body as she dragged on her camel, she looked nothing short of breathtaking to the boy beside her who couldn't help staring back completely and utterly captivated.

"What is it?" She asks, raising an eyebrow at the unidentifiable look with which he was gazing at her. _Have I smudged my lipstick?_ She hadn't, but she definitely no longer looked put together which Schroeder found himself quite allured by as his eyes continued to roam her face and body in spite of his better judgment. As his throat went dry and he failed to muster up any words in response, all he could think about was how perfectly imperfect the woman looked when she allowed herself to relax and stop worrying about impressing anyone, especially him.

"Umm-" He attempts to speak but is quickly interrupted.

"Charlie Brown!" A man hollers entering the already overcrowded room with a small band of friends following close behind. "Glad to see you finally showed up for our match of pool." The boy sneers as he approaches the gang and their spot next to the pool table that they'd reserved.

"Actually, we've been standing here waiting for you to show up for like five minutes. You said you wanted to meet us in here for a game like ten minutes ago." Charlie Brown spoke, both confused and annoyed. Did this asshole really have to do this on the night they were trying to drown their grief over Shermy in alcohol?

Thibult glares at Charlie Brown before turning to the table. "8 Ball. 5 against 5. Two racks of billiards. You guys on?" He challenges leaning his palms on the table and staring at the group menacingly.

"You're on!" The competitive Peppermint Patty accepts before anyone else gets the chance to respond, snatching Thibult's hand to shake it. "C'mon, Marcie. You too Chuck! Who else?" Her voice was booming with enthusiasm like that of a game show host yelling "C'mon down!"

"I'm in." Lucy says, waving the hand that held her cigarette and nodding her head towards the table in agreement.

"Me too." Schroeder quickly adds, brushing off his wonder about why he'd so quickly decided to join Lucy.

"Alright, we've got our team!" Peppermint Patty announces and Sally, Violet, Patty, Frieda and Pig-Pen turn to leave the room not wanting to be stuck in such an unnecessarily crowded space if they weren't going to play while Linus and Franklin stay back curious to see how things play out.

"What if we added a wager?" One of the members of the opposing team, Theo, suggests with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"No." Schroeder interjects immediately. He had no trust for the gang that had regularly bullied their group in the past. He felt certain that they had some shady trick up their sleeves and even if they didn't, he couldn't believe they'd ever be skillful or lucky enough to win. They weren't exactly the most collaborative or most strategic bunch... or the most intelligent.

"Whoever wins picks up the other team's tab for the night?" Peppermint Patty proposes without hesitation and the opposition cheers in agreement leaving Schroeder to facepalm.

Palpable tension further thickened the smokey air the moment Charlie Brown smacked the tip of his cue stick against the white ball, scattering them about the green felt table. He tries for a striped ball in a side pocket and misses, switching the turns to the other team allowing Thibult to score an impressive three solids before Peppermint Patty manages to sink two stripes and a boy beside Thibult eyes the position of the billiards carefully in preparation for his strike.

Following his single failed shot, Marcie is up and approaches the table shakily.

"C'mon baby, you can do it!" Peppermint Patty smacks the table and shoots her girlfriend a motivating smile to ease her nerves.

"U-uh I'll try, sir." With the encouragement of Peppermint Patty beside her, Marcie scores a clear shot and their group responds with an encouraging applause.

"Maybe you should take a page outta their book and 'motivate' your girl too." Franklin nudges Schroeder and nods in Lucy's direction. He rolls his eyes, turning away chuckling but finds himself considering the merit of the suggestion. _Maybe she would do a bit better if I motivated her._

Marcie misses her next shot and the following player from Thibult's team is Theo who steps up to the table exuding heaps of confidence from his smug grin.

_One ball..._

_Two balls.._

_Three balls._

_Four, five, six...._

His aim refuses to miss and his opponents watch the spectacle wide-eyed and utterly stunned as he nears the end of the remaining solid billiards. It isn't until he begins lining up his shot for the final remaining solid that their own anxiety over their impending loss pulls them out of the trance they'd been placed under by his perfect hits.

But by chance, the crowdedness of the room ends up forcing a woman to be pushed into Theo just as he goes to shoot, throwing off his aim for the first time in the game. Charlie Brown's team lets out a momentary sigh of relief before inhaling another breath of fear as it was now Lucy's turn. She'd never been a strong player and the odds were stacked against her as she noticed everyone's eyes fall to her. She had about zero chance of landing every single one of the remaining eleven striped balls plus the black 8 ball during her turn which would be needed to beat the game before Thibult's team had the chance to knock in their final solid and 8 ball shots.

"We're screwed.." Charlie Brown whines but Lucy appears unfazed as she closely examines the table in front of her.

"Hey Charlie Brown, what will you give me if I score every last one of these?" Lucy poses curiously.

"All of them? Are you out of your bloody mind Luc, you've never scored two in a row in your life!" Schroeder scoffs in amusement struggling to hold back his laughter at her preposterous question.

"If I get them all, will you give me a kiss?" Her claret lips twist into a beguiling smile as she turns to him and Schroeder takes a step closer leaning down to her eye level. His cold, ashy, sapphires pierce through Lucy as he lowers his voice, still loud enough for the rest of their teammates to hear, and addresses her with a grievous tone and face.

"If you win this game, I'll give you the biggest kiss you've ever had." A flame ignites in Lucy's pools of ink at the challenge. She wasn't a total fool. She knew he didn't believe in her abilities, but it didn't matter— _she_ knew she was capable of anything she put her mind to and right now, Schroeder had provided her with just the incentive she needed.

"She's as terrible as Charlie, she'll never get it." Schroeder whispers to Franklin beside him, chuckling and Franklin rolls his eyes not because he agreed with his friend that Lucy was as incapable as he believed, but because he found it amusing that he was easily observing the romantic dynamic between the pair that Schroeder had yet to discern.

The group begins motivating Lucy by applauding in sync as she lines up her first shot towards a corner pocket. She'd prepped her cue stick by rubbing blue chalk at the end, confidently pretending to know what she was doing, and was ready to show up Thibult and his gang with skills she was going to will herself to suddenly manifest.

The first shot makes it, eliciting a brief cheer from her team and she quickly moves to the next ball, taking less than a moment to aim. She scores again, a miracle in her team's eyes as she's never managed two shots in a row in any game they'd ever played at Donahue's but it became instantly clear after her third point that she was on a roll.

_Four.._

_Five.._

_Six.._

_Seven.._

Both teams hold their breath as Lucy gracefully knocks ball after ball into the hole. Like some sort've magic trick, it appeared as unbelievable as an illusion and everyone's hearts began racing against the beat of their clapping when Lucy eyed the final ball to win the game. It's a tough shot but after proving to herself that she was capable of anything, she doesn't question whether or not she's able to make the point. The rest of the team, however, is not as calm and assured as they were used to bad luck and undeserving losses, both when playing baseball or pool, and in life itself.

But Lucy was determined to turn that around for once and the sound of plastic clacking in the pocket, indicating the point had been made, sent the team wild.

"SHE DID IT! SHE WON THE GAME AND YOU PROMISED TO KISS HER!" Charlie Brown exclaims, unable to contain his elation over Lucy's knockout victory. Everyone except for Schroeder begins cheering and teasing Thibult's squad wanting more than anything to see their opposition be the ones with the solemn expressions for once. Though in the midst of their celebration, as Lucy locks eyes with Schroeder giving a look as if to ask "are you ready," he stands frozen as he realizes what his friend's win meant for him. _Shit..._ His mind repeats over and over as she proudly approaches to receive her prize.

"A promise is a promise..." He admits after a moment with a pained expression which contrasted to her delighted one. Lucy was the absolute worst when it came to understanding and perceiving the emotions of others, but her subconscious vulnerability when it came to showing affection to Schroeder allowed her to see clear-as-day that this was not something he at all desired with her.

"Forget it." She interrupts him as he goes to lean towards her, pressing a finger to his lips and effectively halting his movement. Lucy was never going to give up in her quest to win over his love, but she also was never going to force him into anything and his unwillingness to be intimate with her on any level had temporarily wounded her egotistical spirit, even if she wasn't willing to admit it. Lucy needed a break. "If that's the only way you'll kiss me, forget it!" Everyone else is still too preoccupied with reveling in their triumph to notice an obviously crabby Lucy storming off from the group. Schroeder hadn't wanted to hurt Lucy but he also admired her dignity, one of the few qualities of hers that he actually appreciated. And it was a fierce dignity that she glowed with as she marched away from him: her steps, purposeful; her curly waves, bouncy; her dress, swaying; her strut, commandeering. An enthralling sight that begins to inspire a tune of strong incensed poise, a boom that calls to be noticed and respected for its power. It is at this moment that Schroeder knows the composition that Dr. Heimer had requested of him.

Lucy turns the corner out of sight, but far from out of Schroeder's mind, leaving him with the clear impression of a sound. A sound that his fingers unwittingly begin to dance to at his sides, desperate to press the keys of a piano to capture the fiery grace that she'd exuded with every step she'd taken away from him.

[March 1972 Peanuts Strip Reference](https://imgur.com/gallery/tIpjyXh)

  
+++

A while later, Schroeder's social battery had officially dropped from its usual low, to somewhere far in the negatives. He was proud of the couple of hours he'd managed with his friends in the bar and dance area but he'd spent the last half hour relaxing in the back room with Linus and sobering himself up with water that he'd asked Violet to bring to him.

"See right here you can see a map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean. And here looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor... And that group of lines over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen... I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side..." Schroeder listened to Linus, utterly perplexed by his words as he watched him motion and point to the small twists and curls embedded into the shape of the crumbling, stained, drawn on, concrete bricks that made up the walls.

[August 1960 Peanuts Strip Reference](https://imgur.com/gallery/hFBK0oM)

  
"How can you see all those things in the lines?!?" Schroeder examined closer, feeling blind but foolish for even attempting to see the images Linus had described.

"Well what shapes do you see?" Linus asks defensively.

"Obviously it's Beethoven playing in the orchestra at Redoute in Godesberg!" He smacked the wall in gesture causing an approaching Violet to roll her eyes at the boys' ongoing and pointless discussion over the shapes concrete made.

"Schroeder this is the last water I'm bringing you." She announces forcing the glass into his hand, animatedly annoyed.

"I appreciate it, thank you." She turns to walk away but he calls out to her before she can get too far through the boxed in patrons of the smoking game room. "You know where Lucy is? I have to drive her home."

"No she disappeared ages ago." Violet replies before making a hasty exit, quickly wanting to return to the lesser smoked packed region of the building.

"I guess I have to find your sister. But you're going home with Charlie and everyone else is taking a cab right?" He asks standing from his seat before downing the glass in his hands.

"Yeah assuming Charlie hasn't begun drunk crying over Shermy."

However it wasn't Charlie Brown who was balling ugly tears beside their friends and several cocktails, it was Patty. Schroeder had hoped a night out would allow his friends to loosen up enough to focus more on the good memories of Shermy that the gang shared instead of on loss they'd experienced but as he scanned the room in search for Lucy and instead only found his wallowing friends, it was clear that mixing alcohol with grief had opened a can of sorrowful worms that Patty, and much of the group, had silently been harboring.

"I never told him!" She wailed over the music and Schroeder did his best to ignore the display and locate Lucy among the onlooking dancers so that he could leave as quickly as possible. He didn't want to become emotional as well and he knew he would if he joined in with his friends who were attempting to comfort Patty and Charlie Brown, the two who'd known Shermy the longest.

Pig-Pen fidgeted nearby, uncomfortably as he realized what it was that Patty hadn't gotten the chance to say to Shermy. This whole night she'd only been flirting with him because she wanted a rebound to forget her dead beloved. If only he'd seen the way her eyes glimmered with enamored stars when she was around Shermy when they were innocent carefree children, he'd understand the agonizing pain she was in and had been trying to keep hidden below the surface and he'd understand why she'd been so desperate to use him, to use anyone, as a brief distraction from it all.

"There are things I didn't tell him either, you know!" Charlie Brown shouts, slamming his fist on the table knocking over several of the drinks and causing an even larger commotion among their group.

_Okay Lucy can find her own way home, I'm leaving._

As Schroeder rushed out and headed back towards the lot, he briefly considered the possibility of meeting up with the girl he'd met earlier to find his own bit of distraction from his grief and the emotional disaster he'd just witnessed. Though the space beside his car in which the girl's van had occupied was empty and Schroeder released a wistful sigh feeling more relieved than disappointed to be going straight home instead of taking the unnecessary detour.

Arriving home, he locks the door with a satisfying 'click' hoping his parents wouldn't be woken by the sounds of him returning. But once he's turned around, he spots his mother standing beside the kitchen counter under the single light above.

"Oh. Hi, mum." He greets her a bit nervously. He was an adult and didn't have any sort've curfew but he also hadn't expected her to still be up waiting for him.

"Hello, sweetie. Did you have fun?" She asks, sounding extremely groggy, her eyes struggling to remain open as she leaned against the counter.

"Yes. What're you still doing up?" He tosses his keys into the bowl they kept beside the door and approaches his sleepy mother.

"Just thought I'd made some tea for when you got back home." She smiles warmly handing him a mug and Schroeder accepts it graciously. The two stand in comfortable silence for a few moments, Schroeder sipping his tea and his mum enjoying the silent night with her son. Both were introverts and tended to prefer their time together in the quiet. After a moment though, Schroeder observes his mother clutching her chest, wearing an expression of discomfort.

"You alright, mum?" He asks, setting his mug back down and reaching out to place a hand on his mother's shoulder.

"Yes, yes. I'm fine. Just a little ache, I'll be alright." She brushes his concern off and forces a thin smile. "I just need some rest. Goodnight, sweetie." She bids before leaving the kitchen to return to her bedroom. Schroeder continued to sip his tea but the silence of the night left him with his thoughts, thoughts that left him unable to shake off his feeling of unease.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

**References to the comic strip that were made in the chap (if uninterested, skip to end for author's note):**

\- There were times early on in the strip as well as in the 2015 movie when Patty showed romantic interest in Pig-Pen however her biggest romantic interest was in Shermy and in the very very early years of the strip when the main characters who had speaking roles were Charlie Brown, Shermy, and Patty the two boys both occasionally showed romantic interest in Patty. I personally saw potential for a relationship between either Shermy and Patty or Shermy and Charlie Brown so I honored all these romantic dynamics by referencing them with Shermy's death which is also a reference to the fact that Shermy's character had his final appearance in 1969, the same year that this fanfic takes place.

\- If you've seen any strip or TV special that includes Frieda you probably know she talks about her "naturally curly hair" quite a bit.

\- Besides Lucy and Schroeder, everyone who's in the car with Charlie Brown has a significantly closer relationship with him for the majority of the strip than the people in Schroeder's car so that seating arrangement was strategic and purposeful.

\- Frieda is known to also have a crush on Schroeder in the strip however Schroeder prefers the company of Lucy (despite usually seeming annoying by her as well) and Schroeder only likes Lucy (even though most people don't know Schroeder does actually like her in the strip).

\- Typing "augh" instead of "ugh" was intentional as that's how Charles Shultz spelled it throughout his strip.

\- Peppermint Patty and Marcie were never confirmed to have a romantic relationship however much of the fan base likes the ship (including me) or at the very least theorizes Peppermint Patty to be gay so I chose to make them be in a relationship in this strip.

\- Marcie frequently referred to Peppermint Patty as 'Sir' and referred to Charlie Brown as 'Charles' and Peppermint Patty almost exclusively called Charlie Brown 'Chuck.'

\- Thibult was the name of a minor character whom the gang played baseball against.

\- As mentioned in this chapter, the Peanuts gang was very unlucky when it came to winning anything, especially baseball games.

\- There maybe more references I'm forgetting but there's another reference currently being made that I can't reveal without spoiling so guess you'll just have to keep reading lol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So thanks for bearing with me while waiting for an update lol I hope the length makes up for the wait. I'll try to begin work on the next chapter ASAP but I'm really busy with college applications right now so the process of getting started might be a bit slow. I hope you all are doing well, I love ya
> 
> ~Ladieboog
> 
> Originally posted on Wattpad at 1:17a October 11th, 2020  
> Posted on AO3 at 1:35a October 11th, 2020


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